No. Under ARRA, an assistance eligible individual is a qualified beneficiary as the result of an involuntary termination that occurred during the period from September 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009, is eligible for COBRA continuation coverage at any time during that period, and elects the COBRA continuation coverage. An individual who does not become eligible for COBRA until after December 31, 2009 does not meet the qualifications to be an Assistance Eligible Individual and would therefore be ineligible for the ARRA premium assistance. Please note that this is the correct information based on the current law; however, there is pending legislation that could extend the ARRA premium assistance. Please subscribe to the COBRA page for updates.

Q2: My plan has told me that ARRA expires or stops on December 31, 2009. If I am an assistance eligible individual who was involuntarily terminated no later than December 31, 2009 and became eligible for COBRA no later than December 31, 2009, can I still receive the full 9 months of ARRA premium assistance?
Yes. Assistance eligible individuals are entitled to receive the full 9 months of premium assistance as long as they remain eligible. For example, if an assistance eligible individual started COBRA on November 1, 2009, they would be entitled to 9 months of ARRA premium assistance from November 1, 2009 through July 31, 2010 as long as they remained eligible. Please note that this is the correct information based on the current law; however, there is pending legislation that could extend the ARRA premium assistance. Please subscribe to the COBRA page for updates.